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HOW TO POST IN THIS FORUM

A guide to posting like a boss

I've been noticing bogus topics and answers more and more lately, causing threads to de-rail and leaving support for the people asking for help. Therefore, I'm writing a simple guide on how to post in this forum. After all, I had this forum made so that people could discuss tech in a pro way along with receiving good support from knowledgeable members, and it'd help to have the people here listen to this a bit.

I'll make a few examples, after which I explain whats wrong and whats good. Should be easy enough to follow, right?

EXAMPLE #1 - LAPPY

Quote from Derp »

Hey guys, I got 600 bucks for my birthday and I want to spend it on a laptop so I can play minecraft during class, ruining my education. Which laptop fits best to my budget and needs?

Quote from [email protected] »

why not build a pc yourself its a lot cheaper

Issue: Didn't even bother to read the topic. Really, there is no such thing as custom-building a laptop unless you're willing to build it entirely yourself FROM THE CORE. As in, make your own case and try to fit hardware in it. Eventually you end up paying more for less.

HOW IT SHOULD'VE BEEN:

Quote from LORD FON STRUDELF »

Hey, I just looked through some models and [insert link here] and [insert link here] might fit your needs. Basically, what you're looking for is yadda yadda, because you really don't want to end up with yadda yadda. See if you can get some yadda yadda so you don't end up wasting your money on some brick.

Suggest a model or two, do a tiny bit of research and warn the OP of the stuff he shouldn't get. (for example, intel gpu's) It's not that hard, really.

EXAMPLE #2 - ANTI-VIRUS

This is a pretty recent one, and the topic in question ended up as a pointless discussion involving some fight between linux and linux.... yep.

Quote from Bill »

Hi, my copy of ANTICREEPER ANTIVIRUS is about to expire in a week or so and I can't be arsed to buy a new license so does anybody know a good, free alternative? Running Windows 7 here. Thanks!

Quote from Tux »

SOLUTION: INSTALL LINUX

Issue: This isn't even near a good solution. If you suggest replacing windows with mac/linux because they have little to no viruses, you are posting a completely deceitful suggestion and it's not only arrogant, but it also doesn't help the OP at all. Its like suggesting the owner of a Delorean to buy a Yamaha bike after one of the car's tires burst.

HOW IT SHOULD'VE BEEN:

Quote from BEASTMAN »

I've been using ANTI-ZOMBIE for a while and its pretty good, haven't had any problems with it so far. Here's a link to its , see if its any good for you.

Suggesting the software you are using yourself and are happy with is always a good idea. This answer provides the OP with a possible solution to his problem and is fuel for a worthy discussion; Other posters might have better suggestions as well as feedback on mentioned answers. I mean, for all we know anti-zombie is a bad craftsmanship, and skelet-on might be a much better choice.

EXAMPLE #3 - OPERATING SYSTEMS

Pretty much stating the obvious here. Note the often-used word; "OS WARS". Fighting about operating systems is just silly, because everyone has its own taste and everyone uses different versions. What may be amazing to one poster might be horrible for the other. Besides, all operating systems have its good sides and its bad sides. There is no such "thing" as a perfect OS, because they all update and change every day.

However, if one were to ask something like

Quote from GRANDPAAA »

Hey guys, I just upgraded to a pentium II rig and I don't feel like throwing Windows 98 or whatever on it. Got any suggestions? Oh and its got 64MB of RAM. Thats pretty hilarious because thats the amount of years I've been alive.

then people could perfectly suggest systems that fit to these specs. Same goes for new releases, people can easily express their opinions about the new versions, explain new features and trade tweaks.

Discussing OS's is completely cool. Fighting about them because you're a fanboy is not a viable reason, and you should be ashamed if you show this kind of attitude.

Note: This also applies to browsers and consoles. They are all awesome and they all suck - there is no king of the kings.

EXAMPLE #4 - P2P, BITTORRENT, ETC.

As you may imagine, discussing p2p, torrents, usenet and such is quite the risky topic. However, if done correctly, then there should be no harm done at all. Tools of the trade:

Don't post a link to the torrent, unless the content is legal to distribute freely. Linux iso's fall under this, for example.
Are you unsure if its okay to post? Then its probably not okay.
If your post somehow contributes to piracy, you really just shouldn't post it.

Discussing piracy on its own is cool, as long as you keep it civil (this just in: keep it civil everywhere) and back your arguments up with facts and reason. This post for example, is fully acceptable:

Quote from NEWBOY »
Hey guys, can anyone explain what DHT means? I see it all the time in uTorrent but I have no idea what it means!

but a post like this...

Quote from MARIO SUPER »

Hey guys I'm trying to download torrent off THE NINJA TEMPLE but I can't get enough seeds how do I increase the seeds so I can get my illegal content quicker???????

Is, quite obviously, not a good post.

EXAMPLE #5 - LAZYNESS

A lot of questions are actually really easy to solve by yourself. The best example for this is the magic that's called Google. A person looking for newer versions of the catalyst driver would enter something like this

amd catalyst driver download

and he'd get the right result straight away. Googling isn't hard at all! And when you need specific stuff? Add quotes! The query

"Super Mario World" spritesheet

would give a lot more accurate results than

super mario world spritesheet

simply because it'll treat the words between the quotation marks as one word.

An other source of getting help with, for example, windows features is using (you guess it) the help function. It updates itself every once in a while and when using simple terms you can find the stuff you need. If you're a twitter user, you can also contact @MicrosoftHelps, who help windows users for free. (for xbox help, use @xboxsupport)

EXAMPLE #6 - I AM A GAME DEVELOPER

Alright kids, I'll be honest with you: You're not going to develop a game with less than a week of coding experience. And no, creating an HTML site doesn't count. (and neither does RPG maker, damnit)

You see, when you come into this forum and post something like this:

Quote from Schweinhund »

Hey guys whats a good language to write a game pls help

The majority of users here will just slam their face on their desk. The reality is that you don't go straight into game development, but do some basic programs first. I'm learning C# myself for months now and I only just made a small blackjack game. Before doing this, I first made some simple console apps, a calculator, hangman, and some other basic things.

Don't jump right in, learn the basics first and when you're experienced enough you go and try something 2D.

EXAMPLE #7 - MY HARDWARE IS BETTER THAN YOUR HARDWARE

It's similar to the OS wars I guess. Basically it goes like this:

Quote from Steve-o »

Hey guys, for some reason my iMac [model name here] keeps turning itself off after a few minutes, especially when I'm playing some games like TF2 or HL2. Does anybody know whats wrong? I'm not really good at hardware stuff so I really have no idea at all. Thanks!

After which a guy stumbles in and posts this:

Quote from Billy »

LOL ITS BECAUSE YOU'RE USING A MAC USE PC INSTEAD

Issue: Now, it might be quite obvious what the issue here is. "PC" is an acronym for "Personal Computer". Now as far as I know, Macintosh machines are personal computers. Try to prove me wrong buddy, its not going to work.

But lets get serious here; Seriously? In this topic, the poster is requesting help with an issue on his Mac computer. The problem here is that little Billy feels the need of posting in a topic in such a non-contributing way that it'll only lead to a fight, delaying the actual answer. Not cool, bro!

How it should go instead:

Quote from Billmo »

I don't use Mac PC's, but this sounds like a regular overheating problem. Get some compressed air and blow the out of your machine, get the dust out of there and see if it made any changes. If not, or you don't feel comfortable doing that, doesn't Apple provide some service called applecare or whatever? See if they can help.

This user approaches the poster in a much friendlier way and actually provides help. Sure, he may not use Mac on his PC, but the problem sounds familiar and the user suggests some things to do that usually help. Since the problem does sound like an overheating issue, cleaning out the machine may very well help it. If it doesn't, the poster should consider Apple's support service and see if they can help. Everyone's happy.

This example can also be applied to people having problems with their Linux, Windows, DOS, etc. machines. Don't tell the posters to off and use a different OS, but approach the problem in way that may also apply to your own OS. If you can't help at all and can't suggest possible sources for help, then don't post at all. It's really not that hard.

TRIVIA

HEY GUYS HOW DO I START THE MINECRAFT SERV- NO. This forum is for tech discussion only. While servers fit to this requirement, Minecraft servers do not. They go into the Minecraft Server forum. Yeah, its that easy.

-----

I will add more examples later on. Remember guys, read this and take note to not post like you'd be ignorant and unfriendly, and you, too, will be a boss at posting.

This has always been a fascinating topic to me.

About 4 years ago, I was a PC fanatic, I thought Mac's were stupid, overpriced pieces of artwork masquerading as a computer. Then, I was hired on for some contract work doing iPhone development, as the App Store was releasing in just a few months, we needed to get started ASAP.

That's when it happened. See, Apple has this draconian policy that you have to have an Apple computer to design software for the iPhone. I instantly started relearning how to be productive. Sure, I can't play games on it as much as on a decent PC, but I wasn't using it for playing games. I was using it to perform a task that Apple computers are very well known for. Software development.

Since then, I've purchased two more Macs, and am in the outfitting my entire office in the Apple product line. Why? I'll tell you.

APPLE IS A HARDWARE MANUFACTURER.

They make hardware. That is where the majority of their money comes from, and they know it. There's a reason I was able to upgrade to OS X Lion (The newest version of the OS) for just $29 bucks. They charge more for their hardware, because that's where they make their money.

Now switch to PC's. Where do you end up paying extremely overinflated prices? When you end up buying Windows 7 Ultimate for $274.

I'm not saying that mac's are not overpriced. I think they are. However, I have gladly paid that price time and time again, for a few reasons:

AppleCare. Best damn thing ever. If it gets screwed up, I just walk it in to the Apple store and they fix it. I've never seen a Dell brick and mortar store before....Do they exist?
As previously mentioned, the hardware is of a different caliber. Sure it's more expensive, but so is a Ferrari. If I want a Ford Focus, I'll buy A PC.
As a developer, I like having all three major OS's on the same machine. Unless you like the hackintosh route, the only feasible way is with a Mac. I hope that will change.
I can use it AND my wife can use it. The same machine. I've yet to see a PC that does this so elegantly

Number 4 is a real kicker. I can write node.js app's backed with Redis and MongoDB stores all day on my mac. My wife can then pick it up, and change the netflix queue. She knows how. Apple has done an amazing job making the system both powerful and easy to use.

Don't get me wrong. I love gaming, and it really sucks that my mac can't hold it's own in this realm. But in a way, I don't want it to. I like it being designed for a purpose, not just some beefy hardware box that I have to tweak and tune constantly.

I have a gaming PC for that.

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